US unveils maritime strategy
Military to focus on 'soft power'
WASHINGTON - The US military unveiled a new maritime strategy yesterday - its first created jointly by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard - shifting from a narrow focus on sea combat toward one that also emphasizes the use of "soft power" to counter terrorism and deliver humanitarian assistance.
The strategy, shaped by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the wars that followed, stresses preventing conflict as much as winning wars, and recognizes that "no one nation" can secure the world's waters against terrorism and other threats.
Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations; General James Conway, Marine Corps commandant; and Admiral Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant, presented the strategy - titled "A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower" - to maritime leaders from more than 100 other countries attending the International Seapower Symposium at the Naval War College at Newport, R.I.
The new approach marks a stark departure from the last US maritime strategy, conceived by the Navy in the 1980s, which focused heavily on offensive operations against the then-Soviet Union. "This isn't just a strategy about putting ordnance on a target or sinking someone else's fleet," said a senior Navy official.
"Soft power, the humanitarian and economic efforts, have been elevated to the same level as high-end naval warfare," said another senior Navy official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity.
The document was developed over two years and outlines six imperatives. These include the traditional missions of concentrating major combat forces in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and Western Pacific to deter or fight potential conflicts. Protecting vital sea lanes represents a growing priority, it said, as seaborne trade has more than quadrupled over the last four decades and now accounts for 90 percent of all international commerce and two-thirds of global petroleum trade.
In addition, the strategy calls for dispersing smaller maritime teams to carry out humanitarian missions as well as to counterterrorism, weapons proliferation, piracy, and other illicit maritime activities - partly in order to contain local threats before they can reach the United States.
